Sport(s) Football 1966–1968 Dartmouth (DE/LB) 1955–1957 Princeton Name Robert Casciola | 1958–1960 Princeton (freshman) Education Princeton University 1961–1965 Princeton (asst.) Positions Tackle | |
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1969–1970 Connecticut (def. asst.) | ||
Robert F. "Bob" Casciola (born c. 1935) is an American former college football coach, National Basketball Association executive, banking executive, and broadcaster. He was the head coach at the University of Connecticut from 1971 to 1972 and at Princeton University from 1973 to 1977. He held assistant coaching positions at Princeton, Dartmouth College. Casciola served as an executive vice president and the chief operating officer for the New Jersey Nets of the NBA from 1987 to 1991. He played college football at Princeton as a tackle.
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Early life
A native of New Hyde Park, New York, Casciola attended Mineola High School in Garden City Park. He attended college at Princeton University, where he played on the football team from 1955 to 1957. He was named to the All-Ivy League team in 1957. He graduated in 1958.
Coaching career
After graduation, Casciola spent three years as the freshmen coach at his alma mater. He then joined the Princeton varsity coaching staff, where remained through the 1965 season. Casciola also served as an officer in the United States Army and attained the rank of captain before being discharged in 1965. From 1966 to 1968, he spent three years mentoring the defensive ends and linebackers at Dartmouth under head coach Bob Blackman from 1966 to 1968. From 1969 to 1970, he served as the defensive coach at Connecticut. In December 1970, he was promoted to head coach in place of John Toner, who remained at UConn as athletic director. Casciola led UConn to a 5–3–1 record in his first season and a share of the Atlantic 10 Conference championship. After one additional season at UConn, he amassed a record of 9–8–1 during his tenure.
In March 1973, Princeton appointed Casciola as its head coach and continued through 1977.
After coaching
In June 1978, Casciola became the assistant vice president for government banking at the First National State Bank of New Jersey (later known as the First Fidelity Bank of New Jersey). In 1979, he served as a member of the Garden State Bowl committee. In 1981, he led a football camp for high school quarterbacks and wide receivers at Mercer University in Atlanta. He worked as a color analyst for Princeton football broadcasts starting in 1981, and later also announced for the New Jersey Generals, Rutgers University athletics, and Ivy League athletics.
In 1987, he left his position with the First Fidelity Bank of New Jersey to take over as executive vice president and chief operating officer for the New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association. Casciola held that post for five years. In July 1991, Casciola resigned from the Nets to become the executive director of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. Upon being chosen for The National Football Foundation's Distinguished American Award in 2004, noted Sports Artist Ted Watts added one more accolade saying, "I think your most admirable trait is to have faith and vision beyond the chalk marks of a football sideline".
Casciola has four children with his wife, Janet.